Do you remember the documentary Protagonist (Jessica Yu, 2007) about obsessive individuals as seen through the precepts of Euripides? The same filmmaker, Jessica Yu, has done a new documentary called Last call at the oasis which illuminates our ever-growing concern with water becoming scarce in the not-so-distant future.

Although it covers 70 percent of the earth’s surface, there is a very real possibility that in the near future, there won’t be enough water to sustain life on the planet. This new documentary sheds some light on the vital role water plays in our lives, exposes the defects in the current system and shows communities already struggling with its ill-effects and individuals championing revolutionary solutions. Firmly establishing the urgency of the global water crisis as the central issue facing our world this century, the film posits that we can manage this problem if we are willing to act now.

Inspired by the book The Ripple Effect by Alex Prud’homme, Last call at the oasis was produced by Participant Media, the same company that did Page One, An Inconvenient Truth, Food, Inc., and Waiting for Superman.

Last call at the oasis, directed by Jessica Yu and produced by Elise Pearlstein, will world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.